Breaking the Silence on Medical Mistakes

The Pulse

When medical mistakes happen, patients and their families often find themselves at a loss trying to figure out exactly what went wrong. Something bad happened. And then, communication drops; there's no real explanation, and no apology. Suddenly, everybody seems on guard. Health care providers can often feel bound by an imposed cone of silence that's designed to protect them and their institution, but makes it impossible to fully face up to their mistake, or have open conversations about preventing future ones.
On this episode, we explore the breaking of that silence, along with new solutions to avoid medical errors. We hear stories about what prompted one surgeon to go public after performing the wrong procedure, how the death of a young woman prompted her parents to try and change the system, and an investigation into an OB-GYN and the trail of injured women left in his wake.
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